At time of going to press, Egypt has 710 confirmed infections, and 46 deaths due to the coronavirus outbreak, after reporting 54 new cases and 5 deaths on Tuesday. While 157 patients have recovered and discharged from hospital.
Egypt’s coronavirus fatality rate is due to a lack of awareness and the ministry not being informed of symptomatic patients, says Minister of Health, Hala Zayed.
In televised statements on Monday evening, Zayed added that 15 of the 41 deaths occurred before the ambulance service arrived to them.
Zayed called upon all citizens to head to a specialised hospital or the closest laboratory conducting coronavirus tests, when they begin to feel any respiratory problems or high temperature. The minister highlighted that this is especially important for the elderly, those suffering underlying health conditions, and pregnant women
The minister pointed out that there are 50 fever and chest hospitals and 34 accredited laboratories to take samples and conduct coronavirus tests nationwide. Zayed noted that her ministry is following a treatment protocol under the supervision of a technical committee from the Ministry of Health and the Armed Forces.
She further added that the vaccines and medications used in the US and France have been included in the Egyptian treatment protocol.
Meanwhile, the governor of Gharbeya governorate placed Hayatim village in lockdown for 14 days after eight coronavirus cases were reported in the village. A further 22 others are suspected of carrying the virus.
The novel coronavirus has continued its accelerated spread worldwide, with the number of infections rising to 803,650. At the time of writing, 172,772 of these have recovered, with 39,033 deaths accounted for.
Coronavirus is part of a large family of viruses moving from less severe diseases, such as the common cold, to more severe viruses, such as MERS and SARS. Coronavirus symptoms include fever and cough, with some suffers having difficulty breathing. The symptoms tend to set in between two days and two weeks after the person has been exposed to the virus.
